Ocean City Man Reels In State Record Triggerfish

OCEAN CITY, MD — While fishing 16 miles off the coast of Ocean City, resident Mike Glyphis set a new Maryland state record for the gray triggerfish he reeled in that weighed 5.6 pounds. He told state officials that he thought his line was snagged on debris but after wrestling with it a bit, his line "took off." After a few minutes of fighting the fish, the veteran angler pulled up the gray triggerfish.

“This was something I never expected," he told the Maryland DNR.

The catch broke a record held almost exactly five years by another Ocean City resident, Wayne Gower, who caught a 5.2-pound triggerfish Oct. 31, 2014.

“It’s always really exciting when these records come in,” Recreational Fishing and Outreach Coordinator Erik Zlokovitz said in a statement. “Most of the time anglers aren’t looking to hook a record, it just happens.”

The department maintains state records for sport fish in four divisions – Atlantic, Chesapeake, Nontidal and Invasive – and awards plaques to anglers who achieve record catches. Fish caught from privately owned, fee-fishing waters are ineligible for consideration.